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الفتوحات المكية في معرفة الأسرار الملكية والمالكية

FUTMAK · Primary-text excerpts

Relieving the suffering of living beings

All annotated passages · Arabic source record · Open in the parallel reader

al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya · Cairo / Maymaniyya · volume 4, page 481 · chapter 560
Site passage ID: fm-p0019

Arabic source excerpt

وإياك أن تعذب ذا روح إذا كان في يدك حتى الأضحية إذا ذبحتها فحد الشفرة وأسرع وأرح ذبيحتك وادفع الألم عن كل من يتألم جهد استطاعتك كان ما كان الألم الحسي من كل حيوان وإنسان ومن النفسي ما تعلم أنه يرضي الله واعلم أنه مما يرضي الله ما أباحه لك أن تفعله

English translation draft

Beware of tormenting a being with a soul when it is in your hands. Even when slaughtering a sacrificial animal, sharpen the blade, act swiftly and give the animal relief. To the extent of your ability, remove pain from everyone who suffers: whatever the bodily pain, in every animal and human being; and, of inward pain, that whose removal you know pleases God. Know that among the things pleasing to God is what He has permitted you to do.

Terminology and context

  1. Dhu ruh is “a being with a soul”, keeping the broad expression that introduces the counsel.
  2. The English preserves the distinction between bodily and inward pain and the qualification attached to the latter.
  3. This is a translation of a historical ethical counsel. Its final condition remains part of the passage; it is not silently removed to produce an unrestricted slogan.

Cite this draft

Ibn al-Arabi, al-Futuhat al-Makkiyya, Cairo / Maymaniyya, 4:481, chapter 560. Futmak, “Relieving the suffering of living beings”, editorial translation draft (AI-assisted), 2026-10-25, fm-p0019.

https://www.futmak.com/english/passages/?id=fm-p0019

The source reference belongs to the printed edition; the passage ID belongs to this website.